Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Noire

These headphones are fun and comfortable above all else. They impressed me in terms of soundstage, as they may be the widest I’ve ever experienced out of closed-back cans.

I have a complicated relationship with planar headphones. Some experiences:

• Planars tend to be heavy and bulky and get uncomfortable after an hour or so.
• Most of the really good ones cost small fortunes.
• The best planars are open and leak with abandon, so you need to be away from people when you enjoy them. The few closed backs one can find are a bit claustrophobic and have distortion in the bass.
• They are hard to travel with.
• Still, they have surgical precision and dynamics and are definitely part of a balanced audiophile diet.

I have a pair of LCD-X that I truly adore because of their ability to remain neutral and expose every single detail (good or bad) in a recording or equipment I’m getting to know. I EQ them a bit when I feel like listening to them for fun. Starting at ~$1,200, they are a luxury item, for sure.

Enter the Dan Clark Audio ÆON 2 Noire, which simply challenged all my assumptions:

• Light and very easy to wear, with the right amount of clamp to stay put. These guys get out of the way.
• One cent under $900. Easier to explain to your significant other or your sober self.
• Closed back. No leaks. A soundstage usually found in the commodity tear of open backs (I’m serious here. These are in Grado Prestige territory).
• A very precise rendering of bass when used with the white felt inserts, a little bright au natural.
• Clever folding design makes them very easy to travel with.
• Everything you like of planers is here — but let me be clear: wider-than-expected soundstage is not “as wide as open back planars”. But it’s definitely enough room for, say, Peter Gabriel’s Mercy Street.

Ask any car enthusiast what sports car hits all the right notes at a reasonable price, and they’ll likely point you to an MX-5. Not the fastest. Not the most refined. Not the most luxurious. But the most fun and at a great price. If planars are sports cars, the Noire are the latest and greatest MX-5 you won’t mind driving to, at, and from the track.

The cable connectors, while not that common, are very easy to use. This is a feature you’ll appreciate if you have a balanced mic but need to travel single-ended, for example. I can’t emphasise enough how compact they are and how well they pack. Maybe you won’t use them on the plane (noise cancelling these are not) but you’ll have them in your carry-on. And unlike your 4k+ cans that you only travel with in your private jet, at this price, you won’t be anxious about carrying them.

Adjusting them is a bit tricky, but nor impossible. But once you have them you’ll know, because the cans are shaped as your ears, and they will simply disappear. You won’t be aware of them being on your head as you would, say, the HD820. The stock cables offered (DUNNER) are a bit microphonic, and you will pick up sounds if they rub against your chair or your shirt. So sit still. More expensive cables are available if you really need them.

For the hobbyist: Dan Clark Audio supplies three pairs of inserts so you can tune the cans to your preference. I use the white inserts, which for me, give me the most enjoyable listening experience. If you like things a bit brighter, use no inserts. So yeah, one more thing to tweak in your chain.

You can get an idea of what I test stuff with by looking at my test playlist. If your style of music is not there, my experience may not be as informative to you. At the time of review, my hearing is about 20 Hz - 17KHz.

With my headphone set (Gungnir + Mjolnir 2) and a KANN Cube:

• Detail: Precise, a little lean. Does not remove anything from sources, but it does add a little bit of warmth. Attacks are pretty snappy. Overall, they are very relaxed, yet refined.
• Soundstage: These may have the widest soundstage in closed planars I’ve ever heard. Yeah, that good.
• Bass: Natural, a little full. But not for the bass-heavy crowd.
• Voices: Slightly forgiving! They seem to be a little forward as well, which in a wide soundstage, is a welcome thing to experience.
• Highs: Detailed, well-separated. Non-fatiguing with white insert.
• Instruments: Remarkable separation. I think percussionists will be the most pleased.
• Overall: They are not clinical, they are not wooden cup open backs, and they are not for the dubstep crowd as they won’t exaggerate anything. They are something else. They are fun, closed-back planars.

Dan Clark Audio seems to have reserved the color black for their best in range. Well, here they are. The ÆON 2 Noire have just become part of my travel kit.

The aeon2 noire is the latest revision to the aeon 2 line. The noire’s all black and carbon fiber styling brings a much more appealing headphone to the aeon lineup. Aesthetics play a big part in why we choose a certain headphone. After all, the first impression is always with the eyes first. Followed by comfort and sound.

options and unboxing

The options I choose when ordering the aeon2 noire where the 2m 3.5mm with a screw on 1/4" adapter dummer cable. Also included in the package is a small hard carrying case, the headphones, tuning pads, and a certificate of authenticity. The unboxing experience was quiet pleasant with just how small the package was when it arrived. I couldn’t believe a full sized flagship headphone lived inside.

This cable is a definite step up from the previous cable that came with my ether c. The new included dummer cable is softer and more flexible than previous iterations. It feels very nice, my only one complaint with the cable is the length. 2m to me is just too long for my desk setup. I end up with the extra cable in a U shape that falls off the edge of my desk that goes towards the floor and back up to the y split.

The hard case is small and compact. I enjoy having such a small case to be able to throw into my backpack for travel. Taking these headphones on the road and not having to worry about the safety of them in the case is a big plus. The case also has a pouch in the top lid to hold extra tuning pads and your cable. Be sure to put the connectors all the way in the pouch or they could potentially scratch your headphones.

build quality

The build quality of the aeon2 noire’s is great. Though I did not expect anything different from dan clark audio and the $999 price tag. The use of metals, carbon fiber, and the leather support strap added to that quality feel. With the metal headband, the high quality machined hinges on the folding mechanisms, this seems to check all the boxes. The folding mechanism takes some practice to get used to. Directions in the box state do not fold and unfold the aeon2 one side at a time. It states to open and close the headphones by slightly pressing the ear cups together and pulling it open or closing at the same time. I have heard other state they do not like the 4pin cable connections, however that is not the case for me. I really enjoy the security the connection gives and you know its connected by a distinct click and haptic feedback.

comfort
This may come to a shock to some and to me as well. This is my one complaint with the headphones. There is something about the comfort factor that has me questioning if I am going to be keeping these headphones long term. I am unsure if it’s the pads that aren’t leather, or just the shape of the ear cups and how it applies pressure to my head. The clamping force is good as there is little to no movement on the headphones. This is something that I wanted to make sure of because this set of headphones is such a great pair for mobile use. I have an issue with extended use with the headphones.

Starting off massaging the pads helped out break them in. Wearing the headphones for around 30–45 mins at a time is all about what I can take. The feel starts to feel supper heavy after around 10 minutes. This surprised me to the point to where I brought out my scale. The aeon’s came in at 337g, 3g less than the advertised weight. To compare, my ether c weighs in at a beefy 403g. This however doesn’t doesn’t fully explain why the comfort is off for me. Like I stated previously, I believe it may be due to the shape of the pads and how they put pressure on my head. This may not be how it is for you, but I can wear my ether c for hours on end.

sound

With the comfort issue I ran into, I can say however, the sound these headphones produce is good. It isn’t a neutral sound at all. There is noticable bass and treble response. Mids seems to be recessed slightly, which gives the noire’s a much more relaxing sound. I believe if it weren’t for the comfort issues, I could listen to these for multiple hours at a time.
Bass seems to come in just at the right time through test sound tracks. There is a slight lack of sub bass from these I did notice. It is consistent in the presentation of bass frequencies and are not muddy or cloudy at all. It seems to be more fluid with the ability to be fast, which I take is the planar advantage.
Mids like I stated seem to be slightly recessed. This give the presences that the bass and highs are boosted. But in fact, it seems to move vocals away from you in space. It seems to me that mids are a little less clear then on the ether c but defiantly gain more sound stage. It isn’t an in your head type sound like with the hd6xx or hd660s at all. During test tracks, with slower paced spread out songs, I was able to get decent detail. The ability to pick out individual instruments starts to fall off once more condensed the music becomes. Male and lower female vocals sound just as they should.
Treble to me sounds a little bit on the bright side. This isn’t to say it is bad, it is actually very welcome. The ability to have string instruments cut through drums and lower ranges helped with the overall enjoyment of the headphones. I liked how crisp and clean the treble was and how female vocals really stood out. I did however start to use and play with the various tuning pads to help with the brightness.
Speaking of tuning pads. The aeon 2 nore’s come with 3 sets of tuning pads. A set of black foam pads, a set of black felt pads, and a set of white felt pads. And in that order, it goes from least to greatest density. I like the fact that dan clark audio gives you tuning pads to customize the sound and fine tune it for your enjoyment. For me, I found that the black foam was the best. It brings down the treble slightly to the point of it still being clean crisp without any fatigue. The black and white felt brought the highs down too much I believe and with the white pads, the bass was huge.

conclusion
These headphones are very enjoyable to listen to. With the new tuning to get close to the harman curve, I believe its a breath of fresh air from all the neutral set of headphones I’ve listened to. These headphones are great for multi media, not just music. I’ve watched movies and tv shows with them and my only drawback is the comfort. With giving them more time, I hope the pad relaxing will fix this for me. I really enjoy the sound signature these have and I haven’t heard anything much like it before. I do believe ordering a custom cable will be better unless a 2m cable suits your needs. With the ability to fine tune the sound, I see myself to use the tuning pads for different applications. These headphones aren’t meant to be mixing headphones. They are built and made to be for enjoyment and they do it very well.
I also tested these for a mobile setup by using my iphone and the ddtc35i which powered the noire’s to an above listening volume.

testing equipment
Dac — Schiit Modi3 Multibit
Amp — Headamp Gilmore Lite mk2

Test Tracks for sound signature: detail, imaging, sound stage
On the Nature of Daylight — Max Richer, Louisa Fuller, Natallia Bonner
Mountains — Hans Zimmer
Fever — Elvis Presley
Hold On — Amber Rubarth
Lenny — Stevie Ray Vaughan
Resynthesis3d — Max Cooper
Drum Solo Live — Jack Bruce, Simon Phillips

should you buy them
If you have the resources to buy these headphones, I highly recommend them. They are different and very enjoyable. Hopefully with more use, my pads will wear in and won’t have any further comfort issues.

INTRO

I like the fact that looking into my inbox today revealed that there was a new offering from Dan Clark Audio. Officially dubbed Aeon 2 Noire, this headphone is dressed all in black and offers a new spin on tuning to be more in line with the Harman curve. The only other change that A2N carries is that the stock pads have a redesigned perforated interior wall. The Noire is offered at a current discount price of $675 instead of the $900 standard retail price. Of course looks are subjective for each person. And personally, I do indeed like the all dressed in black look of this headphone. It strikes me as sleek and sexy and a little Darth Vadar. So yeah, the look certainly works in my book.

I received the A2N just before Christmas and after giving them a quick listen, I cued up a little Infected Mushroom and let them cook for several days.

Now, after a weeks break in how does this new iteration of the Aeon 2 sound? First of all, while the Noire is not what I'd call a direct sibling to the original I'd be comfortable calling them a 1st cousin. The pedigree from the original is certainly there, but the Noire ultimately comfortably carving out it's own unique sound signature. And it's a darn good one indeed.


SOUND

The Noire tuning as verified by Dan Clark Audio is very much based on the Harman curve. And wow, the Harman tuning plays out exceptionally well on the Noire. Basically compared to the OG Aeon 2, the Noire fleshes out a little more bass and treble. This gives the sound of this headphone an effortlessly enjoyable quality. I found myself having to replay my test tracks with this headphone on more than one occasion because I found it very difficult to listen critically. The music just flows and puts me into immediate enjoyment mode and I loose track of listening with a reviewers ear.


MORE SOUND SPECIFICS

I am enamored with the bass response on the Noire. It has that visceral punchy tendency that is just plain smile inducing. Listening to deep notes from an upright bass from a jazz trio, I hear that heavy textured pluck that immediately grabs my attention. And I'm thinking, “man, this sounds so good.” Next, cueing up a bit of electronic music from Scann-Tec I get a true sense of just how well the Noire bass can slam without ever getting out of control. If you are a closet bass-head, this headphone might just make your heart skip a beat or two.

During testing, the next genre I like to sample with new headphones is classical. Not surprisingly, the quickness of the Noire's planar drivers seemed to really excel here. Hilary Hahn's virtuoso violin, floated effortlessly across a large stage with nimble effortlessness. The passion that Ms. Hahn played her instrument was easy to perceive. Cymbal strikes are alarmingly accurate and natural. There is loads of information flowing from the treble region, with no brittleness or stridency (note that I'm self proclaimed treble sensitive).

Staging width and depth get an upgrade over the original Aeon 2. I believe this is mostly attributed to the construction of the new pads with perforated interior wall. While I could be dead wrong on the reason for the improved staging, I'm absolutely certain of the improvement itself. It's not difficult to hear this upgrade. It's easy to forget that I'm using a closed headphone with the Noire...very easy.

If it's not quite clear at this point, let me just say it plainly, “I really like the sound coming from the Aeon 2 Noire.” It's different enough from the original that it sets itself apart with a fairly unique variation on the original turning. In fact, compared directly to the original, I admit that I easily prefer the Noire over the OG. To my ears, the Noire is able to resolve subtle detail more effortlessly and just has that engagement factor that makes listening to music truly enjoyable.


CLOSING

When you add it all up: class leading build quality, all day comfort with the feather weight tear drop cups and a smart refresh on the tuning, I would not be surprised at all if the Aeon 2 Noire becomes a best seller at Dan Clark Audio.